Manchester United are looking to bounce back from the disappointment of last week’s defeat to Tottenham when they go to the Sports Direct Arena this Sunday. Can United get their title challenge back on track? Or will Newcastle further frustrate Sir Alex Ferguson’s men?

Last week I talked of concerns about Manchester United’s defence that would be exemplified in the absence of Nemanja Vidic. Those apprehensions were justified as Rio Ferdinand was made to look woefully inept not only by his lack of pace but also due to poor positional play. The return of both Vidic and Phil Jones cannot come soon enough for Sir Alex Ferguson.

But despite their defensive inefficiencies I fancy The Red Devils to take all three points from this game. Partly due to the potent attacking threat that they posses and partly due to Newcastle’s waning domestic form. The Geordies have now won only one of their last six domestic matches.

Alan Pardew will be without Tim Krul and Ryan Taylor while Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor are also doubtful. Since Demba Ba scored two goals as a second-half substitute against Everton a few weeks ago Pardew has named both he and Papiss Cisse in the starting XI. There must, however, be a temptation to revert to just one striker for this game.

Manchester United’s defensive problems are well documented with Phil Jones and Nemanja Vidic joined on the sidelines by Chris Smalling and, possibly, Jonny Evans, who suffered a dead leg in the midweek win over Cluj.

Ashley Young is also out while Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia are all looking to return having missed the midweek game with various seemingly innocuous problems.

Wayne Rooney’s return to the starting XI and impressive link-up play with Robin van Persie was a particular positive for Manchester United followers. And Rooney will no doubt be looking forward to playing against a side that he has enjoyed spectacular success against in the past. The England forward has scored 10 goals against Newcastle, including at least a couple of memorable strikes. It is a 13/8 chance that he adds to that haul this Sunday.

Rooney isn’t the only one who enjoys playing against The Magpies. Van Persie has scored five goals in his last five games against Newcastle, and is an Even money chance to score this weekend, while Paul Scholes (5/1 to score anytime) has scored more goals against Newcastle than any other Premier League opponent.

Newcastle fans concerned about the above two paragraphs can take some solace from the knowledge that Demba Ba has scored in both of his games against Manchester Untied for the club. The Senegalese is a 9/4 chance to score here.

With so many goal-scoring omens to consider it seems obvious to back the 8/11 on Over 2.5 goals, and I strongly fancy Manchester United to get the majority of them and win the match at odds of 10/11.

It is far from being a crisis at Manchester United just yet, and they usually respond to criticism by putting things right on the pitch. Luckily for the most successful side in the history of English football they have two of the most prolific strikers in the history of the Premier League.